Psychiatrist and researcher Annemieke Dols has been appointed professor at UMC Utrecht as of June 15, 2025. From her chair in Personalized Psychiatric Care for Severe Mood Disorders, she advocates for care that aligns with the personal situation of people with depressive or manic symptoms.
Mood disorders often have a major impact on a person’s life. They are marked by either a depressed mood (depression) or an overly elevated mood (mania). In addition, they can disrupt physical functions such as appetite or sleep. Mood swings can sometimes be triggered by a traumatic event or prolonged stress, but they also tend to run in families. These disorders often recur. “It becomes a lifelong balancing act,” Annemieke explains.
Annemieke is a psychiatrist with over ten years of experience. She is dedicated not only to treating patients, but also to breaking the taboo around mental illness. She combines her clinical work on the acute admissions ward at UMC Utrecht with scientific research. Her specialisations include bipolar disorder, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and neuropsychiatry. Together with Moniek van Dijk, she co-authored the book Koorddansers (Tightrope Walkers), featuring stories from people living with bipolar vulnerability.
The professorship focuses on personalized care: treatments tailored to the individual characteristics and preferences of each patient. “By conducting interdisciplinary research – from both clinical and lived-experience perspectives – we can increasingly predict which intervention will work best for whom.” Annemieke and her colleagues carry out this research in collaboration with partners such as Altrecht Mental Health and the acute ward, where patients with severe mood disorders are often admitted. According to Annemieke, people with mood disorders should be empowered and supported to manage their condition independently.
A key scientific and clinical focus for Annemieke is the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), in which a controlled seizure is induced using small electric currents. This intensive treatment method can be lifesaving for people with severe depression: 60 to 70 percent of patients benefit from ECT (also see: ectinfo.nl). Annemieke is the founder and lead researcher of the Dutch ECT Consortium. “My focus is on further developing this consortium and setting up an ECT data registry that collects and manages information about ECT treatments. By using machine learning, we can evaluate outcomes and increasingly predict which intervention is appropriate. That allows us to provide more personalized advice during consultations.”
Annemieke also investigates the experiences of people with bipolar disorder who no longer use medication. Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that typically includes both depressive episodes and mania. However, more than half of people with bipolar disorder do not take medication, despite clinical guidelines that often recommend it. How do they manage? Together with her colleagues in mental health care, Annemieke aims to collect their experiences. “These insights are valuable for the whole group. They help us understand who can safely taper off and who is better off continuing medication.”
Living with bipolar disorder often involves emotional highs and lows. Still, many people with this condition live without daily medication. In the joint project Tightrope Walkers: Living with Bipolar Disorder, Annemieke and colleagues from the UMC Utrecht psychiatry department, Altrecht Bipolair, and Plusminus aim to learn from their experiences.
Funding is needed for this important research. Would you like to contribute? Please contact the Friends of UMC Utrecht & WKZ Foundation at vrienden@umcutrecht.nl or call +31 88 756 1010 to discuss options. You can also donate directly via the website (in Dutch).
In addition to her clinical and research work, Annemieke actively contributes to the medical curriculum and postgraduate education. She also supervises PhD candidates and early-career researchers. “It’s essential that the next generation of doctors and scientists learns how to shape person-centered care in a complex field like psychiatry.”
Through her professorship, Annemieke connects science, clinical practice, and patient experience. Her work aligns with the philosophy of De Nieuwe Utrechtse School, where multiple perspectives come together to improve healthcare. “Only together can we better understand what appropriate care truly is,” says Annemieke. “I’m a tightrope walker myself: constantly balancing between advising an invasive treatment and strengthening patient autonomy through medication reduction.”
